Support for railroad rails and method of making



J. C. MITMAN Sept. 25, 1962 SUPPORT FOR RAILROAD RAILS AND METHOD OFMAKING Filed NOV. 10, 1960 b 11 12 11 TL E.

INVENTOR.

! JOSEPH C MITMAN BY MM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,055,590 PatentedSept. 25, 1962 flice 3,055,590 SUPPORT FOR RAILROAD RAILS AND METHOD OFMAKING Joseph C. Mitman, Bronxville, N.Y., assignor to AmericanCreosoting Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware FiledNov. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 68,449 3 Claims. (Cl. 238287) The presentinvention relates to improvement in supports for mounting railroadrails. More particularly, it pertains to a support combining a wood railtie and plate and the method of making the same.

Until the present time, plates have been inserted between the nail andthe wood tie and held in place by the rail spike, or in some cases byadditional spikes holding the plate in position on the tie. Thisarrangement has not been satisfactory because, during service, movementoccurs between the plate and the tie which results in undue mechanic-a1'wear and abraison and thereby cuts down the service life of the tie.

To overcome this unsatisfactory condition, an adhesive could be used andwas tried for additionally anchoring the plate to the wood tie. However,it was found that the usual commercial adhesives, although fairlyeifective with untreated wood tie and plate, were not completelysatisfactory with wood ties which are preserved against attack bymicroorganisms by treatment with creosote and coal-tar preservativechemicals. Many of the commercial available adhesives are eitherincompatible or non-adherent to creosote or other coal tar preservativeused as irnpregnants. Since the wood tie must be useful for many yearsof service, untreated wood ties are out of the question. With someadhesives, loss in bond strength and deterioration sets in afterprolonged service, but before the end of the useful life of the tie.Hence, with ties previously treated with creosote or coal-tar solutionsin the usual manner prior to attachment of the plate, the use of anadhesive ineffective to achieve long service life adhesion would notsolve the problem for attaining a longer useful life of the tie andplate. On the other hand, by gluing the plate to the tie prior tocreosote preservative treatment, it would be difiicult if not impossible to effect adequate penetration of the preservative in the mostcritical area of the tie; namely, the area on the tie directly below theplate surface.

The absence of preservative in this area to permit attack bymicro-organisms would obviously render this method of anchoring whollyunsatisfactory.

The present invention provides a novel means for utilizing acommercially available adhesive to improve the rail support of wood tieand plate while at the same time providing adequate penetration ofcreosote or coaltar preservative in the critical area on the tie,directly below the plate surface, by providing passageways which permitthe desired penetration into the tie by the preservative.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asupport combining a wood tie and a plate adhesively bonded thereto withpassageways or channels in the tie below the plate which permitpreservatives to penetrate the tie area under the plate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of preparing suchsupport of wood tie and plate with the tie provided with channels forpenetration by preservative in the area below the plate and extendinginto the body of the tie.

Another object of the invention is to provide a support for mountingrailroad rails of the character stated, which is simple in design andeconomical to manufacture with available equipment.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention, accordingly comprises the several steps and the relationof one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and thearticle possessing the features, properties and the relation ofelements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure,and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the support of the present invention with therail secured thereto;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the support showing adzed surfaces at the railpositions to receive the plates with grooves cut across the faces of thesurfaces;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view with passageways drilled through the tiefrom the base to the adzed surface.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG URE 1 shows a sectionof a railroad tie 10 with an adzed surface 11 cut in the top of the tieto receive the plate. This surface has been provided with channels 12running across the tie (FIGURE 2). A plate 13 is bonded with adhesive 14to the tie at the adzed surface and over the channels 12. The rail 15 issecured to the plate and tie with spikes 16.

Suitable commercially available adhesive compositions which may be usedfor adhesive bonding layers include phenolic resin adhesives,'epoxyresin adhesives, polysulfide or Thiokol base resin adhesives anddi-isocyanate adhesives, all of which exhibit low shrinkage, cure atrelatively low temperature (room or slightly elevated temperature), areunaffected by solvents, oils and chemicals and require no specialsurface preparation to provide high bond strength.

The epoxy resin adhesives are available in the form of relatively lowmolecular weight polymer of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A which onaddition of 01-20% of polyfunctional primary aliphatic amines as curingagent such as diethylene triamine or diethylamino propylamino curerapidly at room temperature within a few hours to provide a strongmoisture resistant bond. A broad variety of other amine curing agentsmay be used including, tertiary aliphatic amines, aromatic polyamines,and cyclic amines such as piperidine, triethylamine, dimethyl aminomethyl phenol and tridimethyl amino methyl phenol, etc. may be used for24 hour cures or for curing at slightly elevated temperature (60 C.).The epoxy resin or monomer of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol may beapplied at solid with amine curing agent incorporated therein or ininert volatile organic solvent, e.g., benzene, toluene, etc.

Thiokol adhesives which may be used are based upon liquid polysulfidepolymer. As disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,466,963, the preferredpolysulfide liquid polymers, such as Thiokol LP-2 and LP-3, are composedof aliphatic hydrocarbon units connected by di,tri or tetrasulfidelinks, and are obtained by condensation of organic dihalide and aqueoussodium polysulfide. The liquid polymer may be formulated with an equalamount of epoxy resin such as Epon 828 and amine curing agent,

e.g., triethylene tetramine to furnish an adhesive coating curable atroom temperature in 24-72 hours or at Fahrenheit in 1 hour.

A quick setting room temperature active phenolic resin adhesive whichcan be used and is preferred for use at room temperature is prepared bymaking a novolak or resin type from resorcinol andformaldehyde at molarratio of formaldehyde to resorcinol of less than 1 to 1,

using an acid catalyst such as p-toluene sulfonic acid and utilizingadditional paraform aldehyde or other aldehyde source (hexa-methylenetetramine) as curing agent.

A suitable di-isocyanate adhesive which may be used combines a polyolsuch as polyethylene glycol molecular weight 400, polypropylene glycolmolecular weight 750, monoglyceride of lard fatty acids, heat dimerizedcastor oil, etc.'with a polyisocyanate such as 2,4 tolylenediis'ocyanate, diphenylmethane diisocyanate, tri-phenylmethanetri-isocyanate, etc., the isocyanate ingredients added in excess to givea chemical bonding action due to' the action of the isocyanate on thewood of the rail tie. Conveniently; the ingredients are added from inertanhydrous organic solvent such as dry toluene. About .1-3% of tertiaryamine, e.g.,' triethylamine is added to the solution as catalyst andpermits a tight bond to be obtained at room temperature on an overnightcure.

Each of the foregoing types of adhesives may be modified with adhesionpromoters, fillers, accelerators, driers, etc. For example, butadieneacrylonitrile rubber may be milled in with the phenolic resin adhesiveand rubber accelerator added if the cure is to be made at elevated orvulcanizing temperature. Silica fillers may be added to any of theadhesives, Fungus proofing agents and "germicides may also be added.Vinyl acetate polymer or vinyl formal polymer or both may be added tothe phenolic resin or to the epoxy resin. Polyarnide resins such as madefrom dimerized fatty acids may be added to the epoxy resin adhesive.Aluminum metal dust clay, glass fibers, powdered alumina and otherfillers may be used to extend the adhesive. Low molecular weightpolyesters and alkyd resins, both types having free bydroxylfunctionality may be added to the diisocyanate adhesive. 1 v

Irr s'ome ca'ses the tie plate 13 is armed directly to the top of thetie'without an adzed surface as in shownherein. Since the adz'ed surfaceis. primarily for the purpose of levelingany unevenness in the tie andequalizing the positions of the two rails which will rest on the tie, itwill be' seen that such adzed surface may not be necessary and likewisehas no bearing on the present invention, If the adzed surface isomitted, the channels and passageways shown herein are made in the tiein the area where the plate and railwill be mounted.

'The manufacturer of the support can prepare the adz ed surface andgrooves shown in FIGURE 2 in a single operation by using adzing knivesso shaped and arranged as to cut grooves in the tie surface at the sametime as the surface is being cut. Thereafter, the plate is bonded to thetie and the tie is ready for treatment with a suitable conventionalpreservative such as creosote, coal tar, organic mercury compounds,chlorinated phenols, chlorinated parafiins and other preservatives suchas petroleum derivatives or combinations of these derivatives. Thegrooves under the tie plate permit lthe preservative to penetrate thearea directly under the tie plate surface so that the entire tie isfully treated throughout. Such treated ties with the plates bondedthereto are then delivered to the railroads for setting in the road bedand affixing of the rails by spiking.

In FIGURE 3 there are holes 18 drilled through the tie from the bottomface to the top face in the area where the plate and tie are to bemounted. Similarly, as in FIGURE 2, the preservative flows through thetie and impregnates the area beneath the plate.

In preparing such supports the manufacturer first defin'es the area onthe ties where the rails are to be i mounted. If necessary to level therails, the tops of i the ties are adzed in such areas to provide a flatsurface for each rail, At the same time or in a separate operationpassageways or grooves are cut in the ties to permit penetration of thepreservative to the areas where the plates and rails are to be mounted.Thereafter, the rail plates are adhesively bonded to the tie in thepredetermined areas. The tie is then treated with creosote and coal tarsolution or some other preservative to inhibit deterioration. In thistreating operation the preservative flows through the passageways orgrooves and completely impregnates the tie, including the areas beneaththe rail plates. Such tiefislrio'w ready for use by the railroads, whichplace the ties in the roadbed, mount the rails on the plates, and-securethe rails in position by driving spikes through the plates and into theties.

Thus it will be apparent thatthe herein disclosed invention provides anew and useful support for mounting railway rails and an improved methodof making it. It is particularly adapted to permit impregnation of a tiewith preservative where the new technique of adhesively bonding the railplate to the tie 'is employed and provides a means 'of using thattechnique which otherwise might not be possible.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above method, and certainmodifications in the article'which embody the invention, may be'madeWithout departing from its scope, it is intended that'all m'a'tt'ercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed,and all statements of the scope of the invention Which, as amatter of'language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and'desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. The method of mounting a rail plate support on wood railway tieswhich consists essentially of the steps of providing a level surface ofwood tie, for mounting the rail plate support, said level surfaceconstituting a shelf on the tie, cutting a passageway in said' shelfbelow the face of said shelfto extend'to another surface of the tie andthereby provide a channel'to the outside of the tie below the tie platefor the flow of preservative to the cut areas of said tie, adhesivelybonding a metal rail plate to the tie on said shelf by interposingbetween the wood shelf and metal undersurface of the plate an adhesiveselected from the group consisting of phenolic resin adhesive, epoxyresin adhesive, polysulfide adhesive and diisocyanate adhesive,to'provide an adhesive layer of high strength, low shrinkage and roomtemperature curing characteristics whose bond strength between metal andwood is unaffected by solvents, .oils and chemicals present in thepreservative and flowing a preservative over the shelf and through saidchannel to impregnate the freshly cut areas of wood.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said passageways are cut in theform of horizontal grooves in the shelf of the wood tie extending toopposite sides of the tie and transverse to the length of the tie.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein said passageways are cut in theform of vertical channels extending from the shelf surface directlydownwardly from the sur face'to'the bottom of the tie.

References Cited in the file of 'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS332,097 Mathieu Dec. 8, 1885 2,389,464 Snyder Nov. 20, 1945 2,575,558Newey Nov. 20, 1951 2,602,785 Wiles July 8, 1952 2,690,876 Snyder Oct.5, 1954 2,690,879 Snyder Oct. 5, 1954 2,707,694 Standring May 3, 19552,743,058 Snyder Apr. 24, 1956 2,920,990 Been et' a1. Jan. 12, 19602,967,161 Hart Jan. 3, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 848,143 Great Britain Sept.14, 1960

